


Afterglow

by lycanvirgin (phoenixzeal)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Frottage, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Multi, Non-Explicit Sex, Violence, it's not actually cheating but they don't know that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 00:21:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixzeal/pseuds/lycanvirgin
Summary: Gavin's application for a renewed visa was rejected and he's going to get deported if he doesn't quickly come up with a solution. It is further complicated by the fact that he's got obligations as Achievement City's resident superhero Golden Boy except he can't exactly tell government officials about his secret identity. That's why, with some suggestions from his best friend Michael, Gavin comes up with a rather half baked plan to post an ad online about looking for someone to marry him so that he'll be allowed to stay in the country. Enter Ryan who claims he has no interest in romantic relationships and only wants to get married to get his family to stop nagging him about it and piss them off by marrying another man. However, Ryan's got some secrets of his own.





	Afterglow

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this back in November of last year and then sort of just forgot to actually edit and post it. Finally today I decided to actually read it through and edit it, I've probably missed a bunch of mistakes but such is life.
> 
> I've got no actual clue how visas work or what it takes to do the whole sham marriage thing but this is also a self indulgent fic about superhero Gavin and vigilante Ryan so it's super light on the realism. Heh, super light, that's basically Gavin's power in this.
> 
> There is violence in the fic as I have tagged and a bunch of references to The Vagabond killing people but there's nothing really graphic. There's also the cheating which isn't actually cheating but secret identities are a thing and fake marriage and all that.
> 
> Hope you like it!

Gavin stared incredulously at the papers in front of him. He hadn’t blinked for at least a minute as he struggled to accept that what he was reading was real. Usually he would have been startled when Michael suddenly waved a hand in front of his face but now he didn’t even react. 

“What’s wrong, boi?” Michael asked, sitting down next to Gavin. “You’re freaking me out.”

Gavin wordlessly handed the papers to Michael and finally blinked, looking down forlornly at his empty hands. His application for a renewal of his work visa had been denied. He would have to leave the country soon if he didn’t find some way to sort this out. What was he supposed to do?

“Well, this sucks,” Michael said, throwing the papers onto the coffee table with a noise of disgust. “We’ve got to fix this.”

“How, Michael? I can’t go against the government!”

“I don’t know, tell them about your actual job instead of that journalism shit.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Gavin said with a heavy sigh. “If I tell anyone there’s no chance that it’ll remain a secret and then I’ll never have a private life ever again. And even worse, bad people will come after you and everyone I know to get to me.”

Michael was one of the very few people who knew about Gavin’s full identity and that had mostly been a cock up on Gavin’s part. He was kind of a superhero. Not even kind of, he was an actual real life superhero as difficult as that was to believe even for himself sometimes. 

His superhero name was Golden Boy which he had definitely not picked out himself. The general public had decided to go with that name as he’d never introduced himself as anything. He supposed he could see why as he glowed with a golden light when he activated his powers, obscuring his face and even his clothes. Something that was convenient in a hurry to save someone - he didn’t have to stop to change somewhere during an emergency. 

“I know, it’s just frustrating as shit,” Michael said. “You work your ass off saving people every day and now they’re going to kick you out? You’re basically working two jobs and you pay rent and you’re pretty much the most law abiding resident there is.”

“I know, Michael, but what am I going to do?” Gavin whined and slumped against his best friend. “How am I going to explain to everyone that sorry, I can’t be your resident hero anymore because the commute would be too long even for me? They’ll be pissed if I show up in England later doing the people saving thing, like I’ve abandoned everyone here for somewhere else. Plus, England basically has a surplus of heroes at this point while America is too big for just a few to handle.”

Michael patted Gavin’s back while he contemplated the situation. “You could get married,” he said after a long moment. 

“What? To who? I can’t marry you unless polygamy suddenly becomes legal within the next few weeks. There’s no one who knows about my secret identity that is available for marriage and I can’t just tell someone else and hope for the best. It’s not like I can live with someone and be able to pass as a real married couple with them and have them not find out.”

“I mean, if you find someone that also wants to keep secrets to themselves and needs to be married for some kind of purpose it could work out maybe.”

“Anyone who had that many secrets to keep and had some kind of reason to marry a stranger is probably a criminal,” Gavin said with a defeated groan. “I can’t marry a criminal, Michael!”

Michael hummed. “What if they were a pseudo criminal? Like, someone who engages in some criminal activities but only for the greater good.”

Gavin knew where Michael was going with this and he didn’t like it at all. “No, Michael, don’t even say it.”

“You’ve said that he’s, and I quote, ‘well fit’ before and it’s not like he’s an actual bad guy.”

“First of all, I was drunk when I said that and I don’t even know what his face looks like under the mask. Second of all, he sometimes kills people in cold blood-”

“But they’re bad people!” Michael cut in. “He’s not out there murdering innocent people, just the ones that really the world is better off without.”

“Michael!” Gavin squawked disapprovingly. “No matter how bad someone is, you can’t just take the law into your own hands like that. Back to my points… third of all, I’ve never actually had a conversation with the bloke. Fourth of all, why would he need someone to marry? For all we know he could be married already.”

They were talking about The Vagabond, a notorious vigilante in Achievement City who often showed up to take care of things that Gavin hadn’t even had a chance to hear about yet. Their methods of execution were extremely different, with The Vagabond sometimes preferring literal executions of people while Gavin handed criminals over to the police. 

“I was just saying, every time you get drunk you get all lusty over the guy,” Michael said with a shrug. “Fine, since none of my suggestions have been good according to you I guess you’re on your own. You could just stay here illegally, I guess. I mean, if someone comes to kick you out you can just go all Golden Boy on their ass and fucking fly out a window or something.”

“No, I don’t want to do that either.” Gavin pouted. “Hey, do people look for marriages of convenience on craigslist? I could use my secure and untraceable computer to make a post about needed a spouse so I won’t get deported. That way no one will know that it’s me in case law enforcement sees the post. There has to be thousands of people that don’t want to be deported anyway so they wouldn’t be able to make that connection.”

Michael gave Gavin’s back another hard pat before he got up. “There you go. Hope you’ll find someone. Though if they’re going to live with you here they better not be someone too shady because I’m not having a criminal stay in my guesthouse.”

“I told you, Michael, I don’t want to be married to a criminal. Maybe there’s some person out there who has no interest in romantic relationships but wants to get married to stop being asked about it by family or something. I can be a good son in law.”

“Sure you can, buddy. Don’t forget, Lindsay wants you to come over for dinner in the main house tonight.”

“I’ll be there as long as nothing else comes up.”

\---

Something else did come up as per usual. Gavin couldn’t count the number of times he’d missed having dinner with his friends because of some stupid bad guy having to choose dinnertime to do crime. Was it some kind of plan that they all had? Maybe they thought that Golden Boy would get sloppy if he didn’t get to eat dinner before he did the superhero thing. 

Gavin grumbled to himself as he flew over the city, looking like a comet as his glowing body streaked across the sky. Right as he reached the scene of the crime - a robbery turned hostage situation - he heard the roar of an engine. He’d recognise that sound anywhere. It was The Vagabond arriving to the scene on his motorcycle. It was odd because usually they didn’t show up to the same crime scenes and this seemed to be a bit too run of the mill for The Vagabond to bother with. Gavin watched as the man clad in black leather and a skull mask got off his bike and grabbed an intimidating sword from its side. 

“Hey, maybe this is better suited for me to take care of,” Gavin said, speaking in an American accent and making his voice sound deeper than it normally was. 

He landed in front of The Vagabond who was walking towards the building containing the robber and the hostages. They were a study in contrasts, a figure covered completely in a golden glow facing a man dressed in black leather from top to toe. 

“Golden Boy,” The Vagabond spoke in a low rumbling voice and Gavin shivered. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about the situation but it’s not what it seems.”

“What do you mean?” 

“The so called robber is the actual victim. The hostages are the men who assaulted her a month ago and the police claimed they could do nothing despite the evidence given. She thought she could take it into her own hands but most good people usually find that they can’t take the lives of others. I have no such qualms. Step aside.”

“You mean I should let you go in there and kill those people?” Gavin asked, almost slipping into his own accent in outrage. “I can’t let you do that, Vagabond, you know I can’t.”

“Then what do you suggest we do? She deserves to have justice for what they did to her.”

“Of course she does but murdering them isn’t the answer. If you get her away to safety and make sure that none of the cops follow you or realise who she is, I’ll take care of the guys.”

The Vagabond tilted his head in a way that looked very menacing thanks to the grinning black skull mask. “How are you going to take care of them? Give them a slap on the wrist and let them go?”

Gavin began to glow a bit brighter in his anger and The Vagabond actually took a step back as if Gavin was the scarier of the two. “I’ll let them know what will happen to them if they ever even think about hurting someone else again.”

“Alright, I’m convinced,” The Vagabond said. “I’ll get the girl out.”

They gave each other nods of understanding and then moved. The Vagabond slipped into the building unseen by the cops while Gavin provided a distraction. Then, free to do whatever he wished, Gavin went inside without discretion. He found that The Vagabond had already disappeared along with the girl and the “hostages” were tied up to a couple of pillars. 

“Oh thank god, Golden Boy is here to save us,” one of the men said.

“Am I now?” Gavin asked and even though the men couldn’t see his face they knew that there was a menacing grin behind those words. “Let’s have a conversation, shall we?”

The police officers outside were confused when the hostages began to scream. They rushed inside only to find Golden Boy standing a few feet away from the hostages who were crying and screaming hysterically. 

“What happened?” one of the cops asked. 

“Turns out that these men are guilty of an assault that happened a month ago,” Gavin said. “Once they saw my light they were consumed with guilt and now they wish to confess. Have a nice night, officers.” 

Gavin flew out of the window before he could be questioned further, feeling satisfied but also a bit rattled. How many times had he helped bad people just because they looked like the victims in a situation? Perhaps he should do more research before heading into crime scenes. However, that would take valuable time and people could lose their lives before he could get there. 

How had The Vagabond known? And why did Gavin even trust him in the first place? It could all have been a lie for some morally grey purpose but no, the men back there had confessed to him what they’d done with only a little bit of prompting. He hadn’t even mentioned what the crime they had committed was and they’d told him everything. Everyone assumed that The Vagabond was just a vigilante without superpowers but perhaps he had some kind of ability to know the truth of a situation as it occurred. 

Gavin was still deep in thought when he landed in a corner shielded from prying eyes from every point and walked the rest of the way back home. He was late for dinner but Lindsay had saved him a plate and she and Michael sat and talked to him as he ate, asking what had been going on this time. For some reason he didn’t tell them about The Vagabond being there, just that he’d caught some bad guys and handed them over to the police. He felt confused and drained after a surprisingly intense day. After he’d eaten, he excused himself and went to the guest house to collapse on top of his bed, falling asleep instantly. 

\---

_Male looking for a spouse to stay in the country_

_I’m in my late twenties. I keep my place nice and tidy and am generally easy going. I can move to wherever around the Achievement City area or you can come live with me. I’ve got irregular work hours and am often called away on business which makes real relationships difficult._

_My work visa application got denied so now I’m looking for another option, hence needing a spouse. I’ve got no gender preference and I don’t need to know every detail of your life or what you’re doing with your days as long as we can be convincing enough as a married couple for a few years. Though I would ask for someone without a criminal record as that could complicate things._

_Serious replies only, please._

Gavin stared at what he’d written for a long moment. Was he really going to do this? Realistically no one would respond probably since he wasn’t offering any sort of payment, monetary or otherwise. That just meant that he didn’t really have anything to lose so he posted it and then resolutely left the computer in order to stop himself from overthinking it. 

He sat down on his couch to play video games for a little bit. Officially he was a freelance writer and game reviewer. Technically he really was but he wasn’t a brilliant enough journalist to really make any waves in the industry. He was mostly called in when someone else was sick or had another bigger article to write. Though he also did a bit of editing here and there and was sometimes hired to edit commercials. 

Really it wasn’t much of a surprise that his visa application had been denied as he’d spent a lot more time focusing on the hero side of his life for the past year and he didn’t have much to show in a professional capacity. It had just been increasingly frustrating for him to do meaningless jobs when he could be saving lives and actually help people. The downside as it turned out was that he probably wouldn’t be able to stay in the city or even the country to continue doing the hero thing there. At least they’d still have The Vagabond. That was the first time he’d thought of what The Vagabond did in a positive light. What was wrong with him?

Unable to focus on playing video games for very long, Gavin pulled out his phone to check if he’d got any replies to his post. To his surprise there actually was a new mail on the new e-mail address he’d created specifically for this purpose. 

_Hello_

_I am a male in my mid thirties, I mostly work nights but get called in during the daytime now and then as well. I try to keep things tidy but I live in a shoe box apartment and wouldn’t mind moving somewhere else that’s big enough for two people._

_I don’t have any real interest in romance and I’m tired of people in my family asking me when I’m getting married and starting a family. Traditional values, you know, so if I get married to a man they’ll probably avoid me for quite some time which would suit me just fine._

_I don’t have a criminal record. I don’t smoke or drink or do any drugs._

_I like dogs and cats and I wouldn’t mind having a pet one day but it’s not a necessity._

_If this sounds interesting to you, please respond with suggestions for when and where to meet and how we will recognize each other._

_Ryan_

It all sounded almost too good to be true and it had been an awfully fast and convenient response to what had seemed like an impossible inquiry. However, Gavin had made sure to use the absolutely secure and untraceable network that he had to use as Golden Boy sometimes, and he’d be able to tell if someone had tried to trace him. Even if they had somehow and knew who he was, they wouldn’t know that he was also Golden Boy anyway. 

Perhaps this Ryan person had been waiting for someone to make this kind of post to help himself while also helping someone else. From the way he wrote he sounded like a decent enough bloke, just a bit antisocial perhaps and stuck with an annoying family. What the hell, Gavin thought as he replied to the mail with some suggestions like Ryan had requested. 

\---

People passed by, laughing and talking to each other. Others were alone, walking fast and with purpose. Everywhere there was movement and light and plenty of witnesses. It was why they had picked this spot to meet for the first time. The city square was a wide open space surrounded by shops and restaurants. Gavin sat on a bench in the middle of the square in front of a huge planter filled with an assortment of flowers. His leg bounced up and down as his gaze darted toward any lone man that came anywhere near his vicinity. 

He still almost jumped out of his skin when someone was suddenly standing right next to the bench at what had been his blind spot just a second ago. One might think that he was trained and prepared so no one would be able to sneak up on him, but that was mostly when he was Golden Boy. He’d found that he was pretty good at just turning it off when he was acting like any other civilian. 

The man next to the bench was looking at him with a somewhat hesitant expression. He was also really gorgeous, tall and broad with lovely blue eyes, and stubble that Gavin sort of wanted to rub against. 

“Ryan?” Gavin asked and quickly got up from the bench, rubbing his hands against his thighs before stretching one out for the man to shake. 

“Yes, that’s me,” the man said in a voice that was unfairly pleasant to listen to, deep and with a little bit of gravelly texture. “Gavin, right?” 

They shook hands and Gavin nodded enthusiastically, feeling like a right awkward mess when he held onto Ryan’s hand for a bit too long. There was no way that this man should be single and have to marry someone for convenience. Then again, he’d written in his initial e-mail that he had no interest in romance and wanted to get his family off his back about getting married. Gavin’s thoughts were another part of the problem and oh my god what if he fell in love with Ryan for real? He’d have to keep his thoughts a complete secret from his real but pretend husband. Occupied with his internal freakout he’d also been staring at Ryan for far too long in silence. 

“Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” Gavin said, flustered. 

“That’s all right, I believe I was also staring,” Ryan said with a lopsided smile. “I don’t really know what is the right thing to say in a situation like this. Should I get on one knee?”

Gavin laughed a bit too loudly and ended it in an embarrassing squeak that drew some looks from people walking passed. “Oh god, I’m really bloody nervous right now. I think I should be the one getting on one knee if anything, I initiated the whole thing.”

“I guess that’s fair. How about a coffee first and then we can pick out rings?”

“Are you serious? Just like that?”

“Well, I assume we’re in a bit of a hurry to make the whole thing seem real,” Ryan said with a shrug. “And we’ve got to learn as much as we can about each other in order to convince whoever is going to question us about it. So, coffee?”

“Uh, all right,” Gavin said, following when Ryan started walking towards one of the many coffee shops. “I prefer tea, though.”

“I don’t actually drink coffee, just diet coke but suggesting coffee seemed like the most normal thing to do,” Ryan confessed and the two of them had a quiet laugh about that. 

So far so good. Ryan was definitely Gavin’s type if he’d ever seen it and he seemed really nice. Though oftentimes people who seemed nice had the worst secrets. How bad could it be? If Gavin could verify that Ryan had no criminal record and wasn’t into some disturbing or kinky stuff then it would be okay. Gavin was also excellent at defending himself if it came to that. 

They walked into the coffee shop and Gavin ordered tea and a scone like a stereotypical English person, while Ryan chose a diet coke and a sandwich. There was an available table in a back corner and they sat down in the accompanying plush chairs. 

“So, no kids?” Gavin asked and Ryan shook his head. 

“No, why?” 

“You just kind of look like the type that would have kids.”

Ryan was wearing what could be described as dad jeans, a dark t-shirt and a dark hoodie. He also wore a backwards cap and pretty worn sneakers in a dark grey that could have been black at some point. 

“Nah, I guess I’m just not good at fashion,” Ryan said with a wry smile. “I get that quite a lot. How about you?”

“God no, I can barely look after myself,” Gavin said. “I mean, I can, obviously, but kids aren’t really in my future. At least not for a very long while.”

“Biological or adoption?” 

“Adopting seems pretty cool, especially an older kid. I feel like they get adopted less often than the real little ones and that’s really sad.”

They kept asking questions back and forth about things that they would probably have to know about each other to seem like a real couple. It was also an excellent way of getting to know each other. Ryan was really good at coming up with pertinent questions that didn’t pry too much, while Gavin was terrible and came up with ridiculous hypothetical ones. Two hours had passed before Gavin even noticed the time. 

“Crap, I should probably go home and get ready for work,” Gavin said. 

“Can I come with you?” Ryan asked and upon noticing Gavin’s surprise he continued, “I just figured if you think you want to marry me then I’ll probably move in with you pretty soon, unless we’re looking for a new place on such short notice. It would be nice for me to get a feel of things so I’ll know what to bring with me.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Gavin’s cheeks were faintly red as his mind had gone somewhere completely different when he’d heard Ryan’s question. “Sure, you can come along. I’ve got to warn you, I live in the guest house of my two best friends. It’s got a kitchenette and a separate living room and bedroom and its own pretty big bathroom, though, so we wouldn’t be living like packed sardines.” 

“That sounds fine.”

Heading out of the coffee shop, Gavin felt a little bit awkward again. He didn’t know how close to walk to Ryan or what to do with his hands. It felt like a date without being an actual date and it really seemed like they’d go through with it. Soon he’d probably be married to this man that he’d just met. This unfairly attractive man with pretty eyes and a nice voice who looked like he worked out. 

“Do you have a car?” Ryan asked. 

“No, I don’t have a driver’s license,” Gavin confessed. “I mostly use public transportation so sometimes I’ve got to leave for work way earlier that I would’ve otherwise probably. Though during high traffic hours it’s probably faster actually. Um, now I’m just rambling on about uninteresting things.”

“I’ve got a car so I could drive you home, check out the place and then leave. It might give you a bit more time to get ready for work.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Getting into the car of a stranger wasn’t the brightest idea but Gavin felt like he knew Ryan pretty well now after having spent a couple of hours questioning each other. Ryan’s car was an old unassuming car in a grey colour but it was kept clean and tidy both on the out- and inside. 

As Ryan followed Gavin’s directions to get to his home, Gavin noticed that Ryan was a good driver. He also noticed that Ryan’s hands were really attractive which almost distracted him enough to give bad directions. In the end they got to Gavin’s place without mishaps and Ryan parked on the street next to Michael and Lindsay’s house. It was in a nice suburban area of Achievement City on a street where all the houses were slight variation of the same model. 

The guest house was in the backyard and Gavin was about to lead Ryan around when the front door of the main house opened. Michael was usually at work around this time but instead he was walking out on the front porch, staring at Ryan with narrowed eyes. Put a shotgun in his hands and he’d look like a dad scaring off his daughter’s date. Thankfully he did not own a shotgun. 

“Oh, hi Michael,” Gavin said in a slightly too high pitched and cheerful tone. “I didn’t know you’d be home.”

“Of course I’m home, you idiot,” Michael said. “I had to make sure you weren’t being brutally murdered somewhere and made it home. So this is the guy?”

“Hi, I’m Ryan,” Ryan said with an awkward wave. “I have no intention of murdering your friend, that would put a wrench in my plan to get married to him to piss off my family.”

Michael kept glaring at Ryan for a long moment before he nodded. “I will give my blessing but I keep the right of taking it back any time I’d like.”

“Of course,” Ryan said seriously. 

“Oh my god, Michael, you’re not my dad,” Gavin said and realised that he sounded like a whiny teenager. 

Embarrassed at the whole situation, Gavin grabbed Ryan’s sleeve and started dragging him towards the guest house. Ryan followed along without protest, giving Michael another awkward wave.

“Use protection!” Michael shouted after them.

Gavin wished that his powers enabled him to sink through the ground but Ryan laughed.

“I like him.”

“I like him too when he isn’t acting like a dick,” Gavin grumbled. “The neighbours probably heard him and now I’ll get disapproving looks for weeks again. They’re too scared to glare at Michael so I get all the blame.”

“Ah, the joy of suburban neighbours,” Ryan said with a sigh. “I lived in a house in a similar neighbourhood to this for a while and I do not miss that part of it.”

“Well, looks like you might get stuck with that again. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, nothing I can’t handle.”

Gavin fished his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, holding it open for Ryan to enter first. He tried to remember if he’d left anything embarrassing or hints of him being Golden Boy out in the open, but he didn’t usually so it should be fine. 

“This is it, feel free to look around,” Gavin said as he closed the door behind them. “It’s not all that big but if you’ve got any furniture you’d like to bring we could compromise.”

“I don’t have any furniture I’m awfully attached to,” Ryan said, walking through the living room and looked around. “Just a few smaller items here and there that I’d like to keep and maybe display.”

“Alright, that’s fine with me. I don’t really have much stuff outside of tech and gaming consoles really.”

Ryan nodded and continued to the kitchenette, poking around a bit and checked out the fridge which was practically empty. He let out a bit of a concerned hum at that but continued without comment to check out the bedroom and the bathroom as well. 

“Would we be sharing the bed or would I sleep on the couch?” Ryan asked. 

That was something that Gavin hadn’t really considered. He couldn’t make Ryan sleep on the couch, not when the man was doing him such a huge favour for little in return. Not when it was something that would have to last at least a couple of years. 

“I guess sharing the bed is fine with me,” Gavin said, wringing his hands. “Or I could sleep on the couch if you’d prefer.”

“It’s a big bed so I think it’ll be fine. When would I be moving in? That is if you’ve not changed your mind. You could have other offers, someone else you’d rather do this with…”

“No, uh, I think the two of us will get along. If you’re sure. We should probably get it going as quickly as possible so you could move in this week and we could, I don’t know… get married at the end of the month?” Gavin let out a nervous laugh. “This is bloody insane, isn’t it?”

Ryan gave Gavin a lopsided smile. “Kind of insane, yes. But if you think about it like having a roommate and sharing a contract on an apartment it’s not that much different. It’s the lying to the government part that’s insane but who doesn’t do that at least once, right?”

“Uh… I don’t know? Many people?”

“Yeah, guess you’re right,” Ryan said with a shrug. “I don’t have any major qualms about it in this case, though. Seems stupid that they wouldn’t renew your visa.”

“Well, thanks. So, Ryan, you’ll marry me?”

“Yes, Gavin, I will marry you.”

After an awkward moment of staring at each other in silence, Gavin decided to dart in for a quick hug. Ryan returned the hug with a bit of a squeeze that kind of made Gavin’s insides melt because it felt so reassuring and nice. 

“I’ll let you get ready for work now, but we’ll talk later to arrange a time for me to move in this week?” Ryan said when the hug ended. “Oh, we should exchange phone numbers.”

“Sounds good,” Gavin said, fumbling his phone a bit as he grabbed it from his pocket but managed not to drop it on the floor. 

They exchanged numbers and then they said their goodbyes and Ryan left. Gavin stood still for a moment just looking at the closed front door of the guest house. In less than a month he was getting married to a man that basically looked like he’d walked out of Gavin’s dreams. A man that had no interest in romantic relationships. They would share a bed and Gavin would probably do something really embarrassing like cling to him in his sleep. Bleeding fantastic. 

\---

The day before Ryan was due to move in, Gavin had to go help the police with a shootout that happened during a drug bust. Unlike the police officers, Gavin could literally dodge bullets and incapacitated the bad guys pretty quickly. He left the scene as soon as he’d made sure that the cops had the rest handled and that there was no one that would sneak up on them. 

While he’d been looking around, he was fairly certain that he’d seen The Vagabond slip around a corner and go into an alleyway. Now Gavin headed that way and found The Vagabond about to get onto his motorbike. 

“Hey, can we talk?” Gavin said as he approached. 

The Vagabond paused and looked at Gavin. “I’m wanted for my crimes, it wouldn’t be good for the Golden Boy’s reputation to be seen with me and not attempt to apprehend me.”

“Then why are you here with so many cops around?”

“I thought that they may need help but by the time I got here, you already had it covered.”

“We can go somewhere a bit further away if you’d feel more comfortable. I just really want to talk to you for a minute.” 

The Vagabond gave a nod and straddled his bike. “Follow me.”

Gavin followed as The Vagabond wove an intricate pattern through alleyways and smaller streets, finally stopping at a small park that was empty at this time of night. In wordless agreement they walked to a bench nestled in a cluster of trees where they’d have some cover against prying eyes. Gavin dimmed his glow to where his face was still obfuscated but he wouldn’t be as eye catching from a distance. 

“What is it that Golden Boy wishes to talk to me about?” The Vagabond asked and Gavin had the sense that there was a smirk hidden behind the mask. 

“I’ve been thinking about the last time we met, how it was the first time we actually spoke to each other. Since then I’ve been wondering about something, how did you know that she was the victim and what those guys had done to her? People have assumed that you’re just a really well trained guy with no extra powers but I’ve been thinking that maybe you do have some kind of superpower. It isn’t mind reading, is it?” 

Gavin took a couple of steps back as the thought occurred to him. Not that an inch or two would make any difference if The Vagabond could read the minds of people from outside a building they were in. 

“No, it isn’t mind reading but I do suppose you could say that I’ve got a superpower.”

“Then what is it?” 

“Why should I tell you?” The Vagabond asked. “Will you list everything that makes you special? How you know to show up at crime scenes and how you can fly and do all of those amazing things, and how about where do you go when you’re not doing the superhero thing? Someone who constantly glows can’t exactly lead a normal life.”

It felt as if The Vagabond’s eyes, always cast in shadow from the mask, could see right through Gavin’s glow. The feeling was unpleasant and Gavin had to tamp down the urge to just leave right then. He was too curious to give up now. 

“We’re on the same side,” Gavin said. “At least I’ve begun to think so, though our methods are extremely different and I really don’t like that killing thing you do.”

“That’s a very convincing argument to how we’re not on the same side,” The Vagabond said with a humourless laugh. “But I’ll tell you a little bit so you won’t stalk me or try to find out in some other way. I just have this sense for injustice, you could say. I know what the injustice is and who or what was involved. I mostly seek out the cases where I know that justice won’t be done and I fix it.”

“By killing people.”

“Sometimes.”

“I’m sorry but I still don’t see how killing someone can ever be justice. They don’t get a trial or a chance to redeem themselves. They’re just dead.”

“When they’re dead they can’t continue to murder others or hurt them in other ways,” The Vagabond said. “If they die it stops the death of possibly countless others. Isn’t that justice? What about when someone goes to prison over and over but never changes their ways, just goes back out there and hurts people? The system is flawed and I know injustice, I can feel it to my very core and it sickens me. Do you expect me to sit back and do nothing when I know I can make the world at least a little bit better?” 

Gavin paced back and forth as he listened. What The Vagabond said did make sense but he couldn’t get over the fact that it was still murder, no matter how bad the murdered person was. The justice system was flawed but then shouldn’t they try to find a way to fix it instead of taking the law into their own hands? Though Gavin was about to get married to a stranger to fool the system so he didn’t know if he had a moral high ground anymore. It was all muddled and headache inducing. 

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I don’t know anymore. Does that make you happy?”

“No, nothing about any of this makes me happy,” The Vagabond said. “I don’t have a superpower, I have a curse. There is so much injustice in the world and I feel it all, it’s maddening. I don’t immediately go to killing people but sometimes that’s the only way to make it stop, otherwise it’s just a continuing cycle of injustices.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have done no injustice to me,” The Vagabond said and stood up, heading back towards his motorcycle. “You stay out of my way and I stay out of yours. Goodbye, Golden Boy.”

Gavin watched The Vagabond leave before he took to the sky and flew towards home. He was lucky that there weren’t any night flying birds around or he surely would’ve collided with one, distracted as he was with The Vagabond’s words on loop in his mind. 

\---  
A duffle bag and a suitcase was all that Ryan brought with him. He’d explained that the apartment he’d been renting was an under the table kind of deal while the actual tenant was out of town so there was no lease. It worked in their favour of being convincing at least, as there was no paper trail that proved that they hadn’t been living together for a longer time. 

“I cleared out one side of the closet for you so you have a place to put your clothes,” Gavin said. “And anything else you can put wherever you’d like. I can make some more room if it’s needed but like I’ve said, I don’t have a lot of stuff on display anyway so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Okay, thanks,” Ryan said. “I’ve got a bag with my pillows and comforter still in the car but other than that this is all I own. I moved to Achievement City pretty recently and I’ve just been trying to find a good place to live but the good areas are pricey and the bad areas… well, you know.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a good deal having my best friends as landlords. I can continue paying the full rent on the place, it’s not much.”

“No, no, if I’m going to live here I want to contribute. Speaking of which, once I’ve unpacked my meager belongings I was thinking about going grocery shopping. I noticed you didn’t have much in the fridge last time I was here but if that’s changed…”

“No,” Gavin admitted with a sheepish grin. “I don’t really cook all that much. I either eat with Michael and Lindsay or order takeout or something.”

“I quite like cooking so if you don’t mind I’d like to do that most days when I’m not too busy.”

“Of course I won’t mind,” Gavin said. “You go ahead, cook as much as you’d like.”

While Ryan was unpacking his things, Gavin tried to stay out of the way while simultaneously making himself available should Ryan have any questions. The whole situation continued to feel strange but having someone in the space where he was so used to being alone was the weirdest so far. Then he started to think about always wearing a ring on his finger and he almost considered running away from it all. However, he had a duty to the people of Achievement City now and he wouldn’t back down. 

“Do you want to come?” Ryan’s question broke Gavin out of his zoned out state that he’d apparently been in for a while. 

As Gavin looked around he noticed a few new additions to the shelves in the living room. Through the doorway to the bedroom he saw new pillows and a comforter on the bed which meant that Ryan had left to go to his car and came back without Gavin noticing. A superhero that didn’t keep tabs on their surroundings was a dead superhero, but Gavin supposed that it meant that he trusted Ryan on a subconscious level. 

“Huh?” Gavin looked at Ryan with a confused expression. 

“Do you want to come with me to the grocery store? I don’t know what you like so it might be easier if we go together at least this once.”

“What I like? You mean you’re going to cook for me as well?”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Of course, why would I only cook for myself when there’s two of us here? Unless you’d rather eat takeout or with your friends.”

“No,” Gavin said quickly. “Sorry, I’m just not used to all of this yet. I completely spaced out for a while there so I’m even more stupid than usual.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Ryan said with an almost fond smile and Gavin found himself blushing again. “So, do you want to come?”

“Yeah, let me just get ready.” 

It took only a minute and then they were off in Ryan’s car. Gavin checked his phone for the checklist he’d made earlier that week. 

“We should go get a copy made of my key,” he said. “I was going to do it earlier but I’ve been busy so I forgot. Then we should figure out some stuff about the wedding. Are we going to invite friends and family, or just friends or just a witness?”

“It will probably seem more legitimate if we invite family,” Ryan said. “Mine won’t show up but it will be fun to send them invitations out of spite.”

That got a laugh out of Gavin and Ryan smirked. Gavin quickly made some notes on his phone.

“Actual proper invitations or just e-mails? I’ll probably just send e-mails to my family since they live in England. They’ll be so mad at me for not telling them about my boyfriend,” Gavin paused for a moment before he continued, “but they won’t question it because I’ve never been vocal about my love life. They’ll try to make it if they can but it will be kind of short notice.”

“You don’t mind not telling them that it’s a ruse?” 

“Nah, I think they’ll like you anyway and it’s less complicated that way. So, I’m inviting my closest family and Michael and Lindsay. Do you have any friends you’d want to invite? In that case I’d like to meet them beforehand so it might not be as awkward at the wedding, though I guess that’s being optimistic.”

“I would like to invite Meg and Jeremy,” Ryan said. “They’re my closest friends and they live in the area. They’re the reason I decided to move here in the first place, otherwise I’ve kind of just been moving from place to place for many years now.”

“How did you meet them then if you don’t stay in one place for long?” 

“Work events and conventions. You know I’m a freelance programmer and both of them work in the video game industry. Which, by the way, would be a good story of how we met as well since you occasionally do game reviews, if I remember correctly.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Gavin said. “Maybe we’ve even crossed paths before during one of the big events but we just never noticed because there’s so many people around.”

Ryan nodded and made a sound of agreement. They continued speaking about their work and places where they could’ve met during the rest of the ride to the grocery store. Ryan had picked a store further away from the house because, as he explained, there was a place nearby it to get copies of keys made. They could also go and look at what kind of wedding rings they would like. 

For a few hours everything felt oddly comfortable and domestic. Gavin handed over his key to get a copy made so that it would be done once they had looked at rings and done the grocery shopping. 

Then they wandered around in a couple of jewellery stores to look at their selection of rings. They received congratulations from the store clerks and they blushed and smiled. In the end they decided to go with simple gold bands, a slimmer one for Gavin and something a bit more substantial for Ryan. They said that they’d get back to the store about engravings once the actual date was set but for now they’d get them sized to fit perfectly. 

In the grocery store Gavin insisted on getting a shopping cart even though they wouldn’t be buying that much. He wanted to roll around with it while standing on the frame by the back wheels. Ryan laughed at him but didn’t protest. At one point after Gavin had almost crashed into a shelf, Ryan got behind him and placed his arms on either side of Gavin to grab the handlebar. Gavin thought that his face must be red as a tomato and he was glad that Ryan wasn’t able to see it currently. 

“You grab the stuff we need and put it in the cart and I’ll steer,” Ryan said.

“Okay,” Gavin said, swallowing heavily as he admired Ryan’s very attractive forearms. 

They went through the rest of the store that way. Other customers gave them looks, some more tolerant than others, but Gavin couldn’t find it in himself to care anymore. He’d always been shy about showing any type of public affection but this was just making him feel all warm and tingly inside. 

Upon reaching the checkout Gavin felt disappointed when usually he hated being in stores and wanted to leave as quickly as possible. He glanced at Ryan while they were putting groceries on the conveyor belt only to find that Ryan was already looking at him. Their eyes met and Ryan smiled, Gavin helplessly smiling back for a moment before he went back to focusing on the task at hand. 

The copy of the key was ready by the time they’d done everything else and they headed back home. Gavin was jiggling his leg and playing with his key ring. They’d spent quite a while being sort of couple-y in public but now he was nervous about being at home alone together. He kept telling himself that Ryan wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship and dating his fake-but-legally-real husband was only a recipe for disaster. Being friends and making it work would be a hell of a lot easier than having an actual budding romance. 

“Is something wrong?” Ryan asked after a long silence. “Was it too much in the store? I just thought that we should probably get comfortable with casual physical proximity. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, it was fine,” Gavin said, licking his lips. “I’m just being silly, that’s all. Kind of nervous about the two of us really being alone together for an extended time. I’ve never really shared my space with anyone in that way before so it’s a new experience.”

“I’ll make dinner and we can watch a movie or a tv show or something. It doesn’t have to be a whole nerve wracking situation. Just act like you normally would with any friend and if you need space, tell me and I can go out for a while. I will have to go to work at weird hours at times anyway and I know that you do as well.”

“You’re right. Thanks, Ryan.”

“No problem, Gav.”

It turned out that Ryan was actually a good cook and he provided hilarious commentary to the movie they watched. He made Gavin laugh so hard that he almost choked on a piece of food. Ryan patted Gavin’s back and looked at him with so much worry that it set Gavin off laughing again. During the times that Gavin wasn’t overthinking things, spending time with Ryan was really easy.

However, by bedtime Gavin was all worked up again. They had agreed on sharing the bed and though it was fairly large, Gavin knew that he’d end up cuddling close to Ryan in his sleep. That’s just what ended up happening when he shared a space with anyone which both Michael and Lindsay could attest to whenever they got drunk and fell asleep on a couch or the floor together. 

“So, I have to warn you that I’m a sleep cuddler,” Gavin finally admitted once they’d brushed their teeth and got ready for bed. “I can sleep on the couch if that bothers you.”

“I get pretty bad nightmares at times and I’ve got insomnia now and then so I might get up in the middle of the night,” Ryan said. “I hope I won’t wake you… maybe I should take the couch.”

“We can try and if it doesn’t work we’ll figure something out? We could get one of those sofa beds or something.”

“Okay, let’s try first.”

They awkwardly got into the bed together, careful not to touch or bump into each other. Ryan had insisted that Gavin should pick which side he wanted to sleep on and Gavin had protested, saying that Ryan should choose. They’d argued back and forth for a few minutes before Gavin finally gave in. Now they lay side by side in darkness, both on their backs staring up at the ceiling. 

“Do you want to make a pillow barrier so I won’t cling to you like a koala in my sleep?” Gavin asked. 

“I think I’ll survive without it,” Ryan said and shifted to lay on his side with his back to Gavin. “Goodnight, Gavin.”

“Oh, okay. Goodnight, Ryan.”

Gavin felt oddly rejected for some reason and he also shifted to lay with his back to Ryan. Maybe that way he wouldn’t turn around and approach Ryan in his sleep. Fat chance of that, really, considering Gavin’s luck. Why did he have to find a pretend husband that was so bloody perfect? It was frustrating and made him feel lonelier than ever even though he’d rarely be alone now, living together with someone else. 

\---

Life continued and Gavin and Ryan figured out how to cohabit the fairly small space of the guest house. There were a couple of days that first week when Ryan would be away all day and almost all night but he’d try to warn Gavin beforehand, or at least send a text when he could. Gavin was also kept busy with both freelance gigs and being Golden Boy. Even though the crime rate was pretty low compared to when he’d first got to Achievement City, there was still a lot to do. 

Eventually they managed to find a time that would suit them both to have Ryan’s friends over. Well, suit them and Michael and Lindsay since they would be in the main house for a dinner so all of them could meet. Michael was bitching about it but Gavin knew that he wasn’t really mad about it and Lindsay was excited to meet Ryan’s friends. She clearly liked Ryan and though he was confused by what she was saying a lot of the time, Ryan seemed to like Lindsay as well. Even Michael had started softening up a bit around Ryan as little time as all of them had spent together so far. 

The day of the big dinner Ryan and Lindsay were cooking together and Michael was trying to calm down a panicked Gavin in the living room. Gavin was pacing back and forth and almost considered biting his nails even though that was a thing he never did. Maybe it would help calm him down but he hadn’t resorted to it quite yet. 

“Would you sit the fuck down?” 

“But Michael, what if they don’t like me,” Gavin whined. “What if they hate me and convince Ryan not to get married to me? Then what would I do?”

“I mean, I can’t guarantee that they’ll like you but I’m pretty sure that Ryan does,” Michael said, rolling his eyes. “He looks at you with so much fondness that it makes me sick.”

Gavin stopped pacing for a moment to stare at Michael. “He what?”

“You seriously haven’t noticed? He wants to at least bang you that’s for sure, if he’s not already halfway in love.”

“No, that’s not true, Michael,” Gavin squawked. “Take it back! He’s not interested in that kind of relationship, you know that.”

“He could’ve changed his mind, you know. You’re not completely hideous and I guess if I wanted to bang dudes you’d be one of my first choices.”

“Aw, that’s really sweet,” Gavin said and sank down on the couch next to Michael, lowering his voice. “But please don’t say things like that about Ryan being into me… you’re just encouraging the part of me that wants to fall for him and I don’t want to get my heart broken by the man I’m about to marry. It’s too complicated, Michael.”

Michael patted Gavin’s back. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise… or I did realise you were into him but you’re right, this is a fucking complicated situation. I won’t say anything else about it other than that Ryan clearly considers you a friend now. He wouldn’t bail on you just because his other friends don’t take an immediate liking to you. Which they might anyway so stop freaking the fuck out and play video games with me until the guests are about to arrive.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to monitor Ryan and Lindsay in the kitchen? They might make a right mess of things. Ryan is usually tidy but you know how Lindsay pulls other people into her chaos.”

“Fuck, you’re right.” Michael darted off the couch and rushed towards the kitchen. “You animals! Clean up after yourselves while you’re cooking!” he was shouting seconds later. 

Once Gavin was alone in the living room he was free to resume his panicking. Though this time he was panicking about what Michael had said about Ryan being interested in him. Gavin had managed to mostly suppress any romantic or sexual feelings he had for Ryan in the past couple of days. Now they were back in full force combined with a very dangerous thing: hope. He wished that Michael hadn’t said anything because now he couldn’t help but wonder if there was any truth to it. 

The smell of food from the kitchen made Gavin’s stomach gurgle and made the butterflies there turn into bats that wanted to escape immediately. Gavin gagged but managed to push it down. Throwing up just minutes before Ryan’s friends were to arrive would make the situation feel even worse. Just moments later the doorbell rang.

“Gav, get the door!” Michael yelled from the kitchen. “I’m elbow deep in the mess these two menaces have created.”

Gavin swallowed audibly but made his way to the front door. He opened it to see a man and a woman, both pretty short and both also attractive. The man had impressive muscles, a shaved head and a full beard with the overall effect being intimidating but gorgeous. The woman also looked in shape but was far daintier and had long brown hair and an outfit that showed off her figure perfectly. 

“Hey, you Gavin?” the man asked. 

“Yeah?” Gavin replied in a squeaky sort of questioning tone.

“This is for you,” the man, who was undoubtedly Jeremy, held out a bottle of some kind of alcohol.

Gavin took it and gestured for the pair outside to come in. “Thanks, I usually don’t drink, though. But Michael and Lindsay do so I’ll bet they’ll love this.”

“Fuck, you’re perfect for Ryan,” Jeremy muttered and walked further inside, looking around curiously. 

Meg sauntered inside after Jeremy and looked Gavin up and down with an almost predatory look. “You’re very cute, are you sure you want to marry Ryan? I might want to keep you for myself.”

“Um, I’m sure that you’re a lovely person and you’re gorgeous,” Gavin said, his voice even squeakier now and his cheeks burned. “But I’m happy with Ryan, thanks.”

“Aw, yay, that’s great,” Meg said with a bright smile. “Isn’t that great, Jeremy?”

“Sure is,” Jeremy said and then pinned Gavin with an intense look. “If you hurt Ryan I will break you in half.”

Gavin nodded quickly and then practically ran towards the dining room. “Come on, I’ll get you seated and dinner will be ready in just a moment. The rest will be right out to greet you.”

He could hear Meg and Jeremy snickering as they followed him and his face stayed a bright red colour. Ryan’s friends were bloody scary. Gavin had no problem stepping into the middle of a gun fight without flinching but one look from Meg or Jeremy would have him fleeing for the hills. 

Thankfully he didn’t have to be alone with them any longer because Michael and Ryan stepped out of the kitchen. Meg and Jeremy took turns hugging Ryan and shaking hands with Michael. 

“Sit down, make yourselves comfortable,” Michael said. “I’ll go help Lindsay carry out the food.”

“I’ll help too,” Gavin said quickly. “And here, Jeremy brought this.” He waved the bottle of alcohol in Michael’s direction. 

“Sweet! Thanks, Jeremy. Maybe we can drink some of this after dinner.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jeremy said while he sat down at the table. 

Gavin hurried into the kitchen and clung to Lindsay who almost dropped the pot she was holding. 

“Hey, careful! What’s wrong, Gav?”

“They’re well scary,” Gavin said in a low voice so they wouldn’t be able to hear him from the adjoining dining room. “If I didn’t have powers I think they really could break me in half.”

Lindsay laughed and patted Gavin on the head. “There, there, I’ll protect you from the scary people. Come on, help me carry all this shit to the table.”

Michael joined them in the kitchen shortly after and together the three of them were able to carry the food and drinks out in one go. The table had been set beforehand and Lindsay had decorated the table with a few of her many cat figurines. As it turned out both Jeremy and Meg absolutely adored cats and they spent a few minutes talking to Lindsay about the cats that they’d had. Jeremy apparently had three currently and Lindsay was absolutely ecstatic, demanding to see pictures after dinner. 

Gavin was glad that Meg and Jeremy weren’t focused on him for the time being but he was still nervous, just poking around in his food. He was sitting next to Ryan who leaned in to speak to him quietly. 

“Are you okay? Did they say something weird to you?”

“No, I mean, yeah… no,” Gavin said. “I don’t know, I’m just kind of worried that they won’t like me? I’m not good at meeting new people, I never know how to act or what to say.”

“You’ll be fine.” Ryan patted Gavin’s thigh and Gavin gulped. “I liked you just fine after our first meeting. Just be yourself.”

Michael’s words from earlier resurfaced in Gavin’s mind and he looked at Ryan, trying to analyse his every expression and gesture. Could Ryan actually be attracted to him for real? No, he wasn’t supposed to think like that. They were just friends and that’s all they would be. 

Eventually the general topic of conversation switched from cats and Meg and Jeremy’s focus moved to Gavin. Suddenly he had a great interest in stuffing food into his mouth so he could take a longer time thinking things over before he had to reply. They grilled him a bit about where he’d grown up, how many siblings he had, why he’d decided to move to the US and when his last relationship had been but it was all fairly light-hearted. 

Then Jeremy decided to go ahead and ask, “If you find someone else while you’re married to Ryan, would you go for it or would you stay faithful to the sham?” 

“Hey, that’s not something you should be asking,” Ryan said, close to physically blocking the line of sight between Gavin and Jeremy. “That’s something that we would be discussing between just the two of us.”

“We could be asking the same of Ryan,” Michael said, narrowing his eyes at Jeremy. “But we haven’t because we realise that it’s not any of our business.”

The tension in the dining room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Gavin looked wide eyed at everyone, especially Ryan who was still acting like he was trying to defend Gavin with his body almost like he was expecting Jeremy to jump across the table and physically attack him. 

“Guys, calm down,” Gavin said, placing his hand on Ryan’s tense back. “I understand why Jeremy would ask that even though it’s something better left private. Personally I’ve no intention of pursuing any relationships while married to Ryan. I’m not that kind of chap.”

“Thank you for answering the question,” Jeremy said. “Sorry that I was being so blunt but I know that Ryan isn’t that kind of guy either and I just want to look out for him, you know. Sometimes he’s too nice for his own good and will just play along with whatever. In a way I’m looking out for you too, Gavin, because if anyone would find out you could get deported.”

Michael scoffed. “Yeah, sure, you’re looking out for Gavvy. You don’t actually give a fuck about him.”

“Michael, it’s okay,” Gavin said soothingly. “I’m not upset. Well, I’m upset that you’re upset so please just relax.”

“If you’re all good boys and girls and finish all of your vegetables you’ll get dessert after dinner,” Lindsay said.

Everyone reacted with a mixture of laughter and confusion which effectively broke the tension in the room. Gavin gave Lindsay a grateful look and she gave him a silly grin and a thumbs up that made him laugh more. 

“I, for one, am looking forward to dessert so everyone please behave,” Meg said. 

During the argument she’d been leaning forward, looking like she was ready to intervene should anything go down with the boys. Now she was relaxed again and looked like any other girl who’d never been in a fight in her life, but Gavin could tell that there was something more to both her and Jeremy. 

It was like his own personal version of spidey sense was tingling now that he was seeing Ryan and Ryan’s best friends in one room together. Ryan looked far too fit to just be a programmer and the other two had something lethal about them. Most people would just write it off with the explanation that all of them really enjoyed going to the gym or extreme sports, but Gavin knew that there was something more than that. The only thing was that he didn’t want to know. If Ryan turned out to be doing something actually shady it would break his heart because when he wasn’t lying to himself, Gavin knew that he had already fallen in love. 

The rest of the dinner went pretty smoothly even after the argument. Once they turned the conversation away from Gavin and his impending marriage to Ryan, all of them found more things they had in common. Jeremy seemed to always be blunt and almost aggressive while speaking but he wasn’t trying to be mean or anything. Meg was charming and funny and her and Ryan had everyone laughing with their banter. 

After the dessert, which all of them got to eat because they’d all eaten their vegetables, Michael opened the bottle that Jeremy had brought with him. Everyone except for Ryan and Gavin partook as Meg and Jeremy had used a rideshare to get there. Gavin did drink sometimes but he didn’t like how it slowed him down and he never knew when he’d need to be alert again. The hangovers were always the worst and he couldn’t afford making mistakes as Golden Boy. 

“I’ve got to warn you that Jeremy gets even more aggressive when he’s drunk,” Ryan whispered to Gavin. 

“So does Michael,” Gavin whispered back. “Maybe we should grab the alcohol and make a run for it?”

“I don’t know if we can risk it, Jeremy’s really fast.”

“I think I can outrun him. I know I don’t look like much but running for my life is one thing I’m very good at.”

Ryan laughed softly and with their proximity from leaning in to whisper to each other Gavin could feel Ryan’s breath ghost across his skin. He shivered lightly and leaned away again with a bit of a strained smile on his face. 

“How did all of you meet?” Lindsay asked, gesturing between Ryan, Meg and Jeremy. 

“Work,” Meg replied. “We’ve all been to gaming conventions at one point or another during our careers. I’ve done some hosting jobs and Jeremy streams on twitch.” 

“Really? I’ve been thinking about doing that but work keeps me pretty busy,” Michael said. “Is it fun or does it just turn into work?”

“It is a lot of work but it’s still fun,” Jeremy said. “I’m not a very big name streamer, though, so it doesn’t earn me a lot of money or anything. I work as a personal trainer at a gym too. If you’d like to try streaming then maybe you could join me on my channel sometime through voice chat and we could play games together.”

“Awesome, I might take you up on that.”

Just like that the two previously hostile men were suddenly good friends, talking about games and streaming setups. Meg and Lindsay were also talking about gaming and their jobs in a separate conversation, leaning across the table to hear each other over the loud voices of Michael and Jeremy. 

Gavin looked at Ryan. “So, looks like my friends have just stolen your friends and now we’re like the fifth wheel.”

“Yeah, but that means we can go get more of the dessert that got left over,” Ryan said with a smirk. 

“That’s a very good point, Ryan.” 

As one they got up from their seats and grabbed their plates. They walked to the kitchen without much acknowledgment from the others about their departure. On the kitchen counter there was still a large piece of pie left in the baking tin. 

“This is going both better and worse than I thought it would,” Ryan said as he divided the large piece into two equal sized ones. “Meg and Jeremy can be a bit much in their own ways. I know they get weirdly protective of me too but I didn’t think Jeremy was going to ask something like that right there at the table. If anything I thought he’d try to pull you aside and ask you in private. I’m very sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Gavin said, shrugging. “They’re just looking out for you and I can’t blame them. I know that Michael and Lindsay have probably asked you about your intentions at least once while I wasn’t present.”

“Yeah but they were nicer about it. Well, Lindsay was nice about it. Michael can get pretty loud but he’s not as… intense as Jeremy can get sometimes. Jeremy really makes it seem like he isn’t all talk but would actually cut a bitch.”

“That’s true, I do feel like he would indeed break me in half if I ever hurt you but I’m not sure why I ever would.”

“I’d say unintentionally but that doesn’t count. You don’t seem like the kind of guy who would ever do something with the intent of hurting someone.”

Gavin shrugged. “Guess I’m not. You don’t seem like it either.”

Ryan gave a lopsided smile and stabbed his fork into his piece of the pie. “I might surprise you. But I wouldn’t want to intentionally hurt you.”

They heard the raised voices of Jeremy and Michael as they argued over some detail in a video game. It was hard to tell exactly what they were yelling about because it was so mixed in with swear words and unintelligible noises. They sounded like they were having fun arguing, however, so Gavin didn’t feel the need to step in. Especially not when Lindsay and Meg also joined the argument and everyone was basically just shit talking each other. Ryan sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling as if begging for divine intervention and Gavin laughed. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t invite them to the wedding after all,” Gavin said. “It’ll just turn into them arguing loudly while we’re trying to listen to the judge or whatever.”

“I’d suggest eloping if it didn’t make it look like a more obvious fraud,” Ryan said. “Really though, it’s our only chance of getting married by Elvis.”

“We could just have an Elvis impersonator marry us with everyone present. Or we go to renew our vows in Vegas at some point for fun.”

“That’s a very valid point and I think that we should seriously do that. To the second idea, not the first one. Has your family gotten back to you about whether or not they’ll be able to attend?”

“Yeah, they’re a bit upset about not finding out about my boyfriend until now but my parents will be there,” Gavin said. “Not sure about my siblings yet but they should let me know soon. It’s only three weeks away now. God, I feel like I should be planning way more and have a big party or something like they do in movies.”

“Treating everyone to a restaurant afterwards will be expensive enough and we’re getting suits, we got the rings engraved and we’ve hired a photographer. Plus covering hotel costs for your family and then the honeymoon afterwards.”

“The honeymoon is us spending a weekend in a hotel in Achievement City so I’m not sure that it counts.”

Ryan shrugged. “We’ve both got our jobs and we’re saving money to buy our own house in a few years, remember? Our story is solid.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Gavin said, sighing as he mushed part of his pie before shoveling it into his mouth. “I’m just worried that they won’t believe us and then I’ve dragged you into a big mess on top of being deported.”

Ryan put his fork down, having already eaten all of the rather substantial piece of pie, and placed his hands on Gavin’s shoulders. Gavin tensed up and looked at Ryan in askance. 

“We’re going to be fine,” Ryan said with a gentle smile. “For one, you’re a white male with a decent amount of money so even though your work visa application didn’t pan out this time it’ll be easier for you than it is for others.”

“I don’t know if that’s comforting or really sad,” Gavin said, frowning. 

“Probably both? But we also get along really well, our friends get along in their own special way…” Ryan tilted his head as the volume of the voices in the living room had lowered a bit again. “We seem like we’ve all known each other for a longer time and I do want to get married to you.”

“W-what? What do you mean?” 

“I mean if I’d have to choose between marrying anyone else and you, it would always be you. You make things pretty easy. You make me laugh, you don’t demand me to spend every second of every day with you and we’ve both got irregular work schedules so you get it. Hell, you don’t even snore.”

Gavin laughed weakly and pulled away from Ryan’s grasp with the pretense of eating more pie. Honestly his knees were feeling pretty wobbly from having Ryan look into his eyes and say all of those nice things. Ryan wanted to marry him; granted it was more from practical matters and convenience rather than romantic feelings but it still made Gavin feel all tingly inside. It was one thing to know that Ryan had agreed to marrying him and another to know that he wanted to, no matter what the reasons were. 

“Thanks,” Gavin mumbled, stuffing his face with the rest of the pie that was left.

“Gav, are you all right? Did I say something wrong?”

Gavin shook his head. “No, of course not. You’re pretty great too, you know.”

Ryan smiled and patted Gavin’s shoulder. “We should probably join the others and make sure that they don’t get too drunk.”

“Yeah, all right.”

Joining the other four in the dining room got them immediately pulled into a conversation about whether or not they should try to set up a board game night for all of them to play together. Gavin and Ryan looked at each other and shrugged as the others were clearly planning to do it with or without them anyway. 

Eventually the night came to an end and they managed to get Meg and Jeremy a rideshare to their respective homes. Ryan asked them to text him when they got home so that he would know they got there safely which Gavin thought was super sweet. All in all the night had been a decent success and Gavin was both relieved and sad at the same time. Sad because his feelings for Ryan were completely unavoidable at this point. 

\---

Gavin was doing a sweep of Achievement City when he heard gunshots in the distance. The sounds were coming from a warehouse district where a lot of gangs conducted their criminal activities and pretty much constantly had turf wars. His flying speed increased as he headed towards the action and he reached the location in merely a couple of minutes even though he’d been across town. 

The fighting was occuring inside one of the warehouses and Gavin found a broken window high up which he could squeeze through. He ended up on a catwalk overlooking the warehouse floor and below he saw The Vagabond fighting what looked to be at least twenty people. 

The Vagabond was crouched behind a few crates, waiting for the others to cease fire for enough time to be able to get a few shots off himself. He quickly popped up and fired during a bit of a lull from the other side and got one of them clean in the shoulder and they went down screaming. 

It was oddly fascinating to watch how calm and methodical The Vagabond was even when being so vastly outnumbered. Gavin knew that he should intervene and make sure that all of them, including the gang members, came out of the situation alive but instead he found himself watching. His glow was dim enough not to draw attention and he watched as The Vagabond shot five other guys with none of them getting a good shot on him. 

However, Gavin saw something at the corner of his eye and he turned and looked to see that one of the gang members had snuck around and was behind The Vagabond. The thug had a clear shot at The Vagabond’s head and was about to pull the trigger. Without hesitation Gavin dropped down, shielding The Vagabond with his body and caught the bullet in his hand now blazing with furious golden light. He watched the thug’s expression go from smug to terrified and felt a strange satisfaction fill him. 

Moving quickly Gavin flew towards the thug and had him out cold with a single punch that probably broke his jaw. Then he swirled around and went after the remaining thugs with an anger that was unlike him. He was barely aware of what he was doing, incapacitating the gang members with more force than he ever normally used. When the last guy went down Gavin didn’t stop hitting him, his fists meeting already broken skin and bones with sickening thuds and crunches. 

Finally he felt arms around him, pulling him away and he turned around ready to punch whoever was holding him but stopped when he noticed that it was The Vagabond. He was barely centimeters away from the black grinning skull mask of the vigilante and he could see the eyes beyond the dark shadows. They were a deep blue and right now they held concern. 

“Hey, it’s okay, calm down,” The Vagabond said, his deep voice creating vibrations in Gavin’s chest as they were pressed together. “This isn’t like you. Actually, it’s more like me.”

“You almost got shot in the back of the head,” Gavin said, barely remembering in time to use his American accent. “If I hadn’t been here to stop it you would’ve been dead!”

His glow flared brighter once more and The Vagabond flinched but didn’t let go. 

“And that upsets you?”

“Of course it does! Shouldn’t your power of sensing injustice warn you when you’re about to get killed?”

“Me dying would not be injustice,” The Vagabond said, finally letting go of Gavin and taking a step back as he heard the groans of some of the gang members who were still clinging to consciousness. “This is not the place to speak of this.”

Gavin let out a sound of frustration and grabbed The Vagabond tightly before flying out the door and up, landing on a roof a few blocks away. As he flew The Vagabond had made a startled sound and then held on for dear life. Once they had landed The Vagabond stepped as far away from any edge as possible.

“A warning would have been appreciated,” The Vagabond grumbled and pulled on his leather jacket to adjust. 

“You mean like the warning you should have got from your power?” Gavin asked, refusing to let it go. “What do you mean that your death wouldn’t be injustice? If what you do is righting injustices and helping people like you’ve said, then killing you would be like the greatest injustice of all.”

The Vagabond sighed and sank down on a ventilation unit that was the perfect height to make a good seat. “Didn’t I tell you? It’s not a superpower, it’s a curse.”

“What does that mean? And what were you thinking going against that many armed men on your own? I would have trouble with that many and I’ve got super speed and catch bullets if I see them coming.”

“I’m a killer just like the people I stop.”

“But the people you stop are bad and like you said before, you only kill them so that they won’t be able to hurt anyone else,” Gavin said, frowning. 

“I wasn’t born with the ability to sense injustice, nor was it bestowed upon me in any manner of benevolence. Before I became this… what people call a vigilante, I was just a mercenary and a hitman. I got paid to end people’s lives and I didn’t much care who they were as long as I got enough money to make ends meet. It wasn’t for long and I wasn’t the most skilled or sought after so I didn’t even make the big bucks. One day I killed the lover of someone very powerful and she caught me in the act. Instead of killing me or calling the police, she cursed me with feeling all injustice so that I would know her pain.”

Gavin ruffled his hair and sank down next to The Vagabond. All of this was a lot to take in. He had begun to see The Vagabond as a necessary… not evil, but perhaps a shade of grey in a world that would always contain bad people and where the justice system was flawed. 

“If you weren’t a hitman for very long then I don’t know, shouldn’t the justice you’ve brought to others make up for what you did in the past?” Gavin asked, not quite able to believe that he was even suggesting such a thing. 

“There’s nothing that can truly make up for a life taken,” The Vagabond said gravely. “As for the other question, there weren’t that many gang members around when the fight began and I’ve gotten myself out of worse situations before. What happened to you back there? It wasn’t like you at all.”

“I don’t know, I just saw that man aiming his gun at the back of your head and I got so angry. It felt like he and his friends were about to take something important from me - a friend. I didn’t like that.”

The Vagabond tilted his head and there was something vaguely comical about seeing someone in a skull mask do such a puppylike thing, if the situation were any different Gavin might have laughed. 

“So, you consider us friends now?” The Vagabond asked and then looked away from Gavin, distracted by the sounds of sirens coming closer as the police were probably responding to reports of gunshots in the area. “I’m a killer and I go against your ethics, we barely know each other and you think that I’m your friend.”

“When you put it like that it sounds ridiculous,” Gavin said with a sigh. “But judging from my reaction on seeing you moments away from dead then yeah, I consider you a friend. You’ve really muddled my views on a lot of things lately so I should be pissed off at you, and I really kind of am but I also don’t want you to die.”

“You don’t want anyone to die so I’m not sure that’s saying much.”

“You’d be surprised. Don’t mock me, Bond.”

“I wasn’t mocking you, I think that it’s admirable. If I were mocking you, you’d be able to tell… Boy.”

“Hey, I gave you a cool nickname and that’s what you’re going with for me?” Gavin asked. “I’m a fully grown man, you know.”

“There’s no nickname of Golden Boy that would ever be cool,” The Vagabond said. 

“Well, alright, I guess not. How did you get such a cool vigilante name while I, a popular superhero, am basically the grandson to one of the Golden Girls judging by the name.”

“Before I came to Achievement City I never stayed in one place for more than a year and so they started referring to me as The Vagabond. Before that, in the first few places I was active, they called me Dark Skull. Someone must have thought that name was too villainous to suit my MO of going after only bad people.”

“Maybe the Association of Villains called and wanted their name back,” Gavin said and The Vagabond chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that kind of made him all tingly inside. 

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of ambulances arriving at the scene where cops had already apprehended those that weren’t too injured to go straight to jail. For the first time Gavin couldn’t feel even a modicum of guilt or sadness about the ones that had probably passed away. He didn’t know if that was good or bad but he did feel guilt about not being sad. Frankly he was just relieved that The Vagabond was still alive. 

“Thank you for saving me,” The Vagabond said quietly as they’d watched the police cars and ambulances speed away. 

“You’re welcome,” Gavin said, smiling to himself as he knew that The Vagabond wouldn’t be able to see his face. “Next time try to be more aware of your surroundings, okay? Don’t do anything stupid like fight more than twenty guys at once.”

“I’ll pay more attention but I can’t promise that I won’t do something stupid.” 

Gavin sighed heavily and stood up. “If you tell me where your bike is I’ll get you back to it.”

“No, that’s fine, I can just find a fire escape or something and get down from here on my own,” The Vagabond said, getting up as well and looked around to find a ladder. 

“Come on, I promise I’m not going to drop you. Was it really that scary? You can face tons of people in a gunfight but flying freaks you out?”

“Not if it’s in an airplane but dangling freely in the air with just someone’s arms around you is a bit scary.”

“I’ll just drop you off on the street below this building,” Gavin said and approached The Vagabond with open arms. “Come on, I promise I’ll do it nice and gentle.”

The Vagabond chuckled. “Nice and gentle, huh? What if I like it rough?”

Gavin blushed bright red and even the glow around him got a slight pink tint to it. “You know that’s not how I meant it. Now come on and grab onto me so I can fly you down to the ground and then promptly sink into it to hide my embarrassment.”

The Vagabond laughed once more but stepped closer to Gavin and allowed him to wrap his arms securely around The Vagabond’s leather clad body. He smelled nice, Gavin noted, like leather and a nice mellow musk with some kind of oil mixed in. Then he berated himself for thinking about what The Vagabond smelled like and how their bodies felt pressed together like this. Seriously? First he fell in love with the man he was marrying for convenience, and now he had a crush on a vigilante who often killed people? There was something seriously wrong with him. 

Suppressing all inappropriate thoughts, Gavin flew down from the roof with The Vagabond in his arms. They landed gently on the ground and Gavin immediately let go, taking a few steps back. 

“I guess I’ll see you around,” he said. “Don’t get yourself killed.”

“Same goes for you,” The Vagabond said, slowly walking backwards away from Gavin. “If you get yourself killed that would be a great injustice, Boy.”

“Oh, shut up,” Gavin said and flew straight up in the sky, The Vagabond’s laughter ringing in his ears. 

\---

The wedding was held at the courthouse. Gavin’s parents had flown in from England and were in attendance along with Michael, Lindsay, Meg, and Jeremy and the wedding photographer. Like Ryan had foretold, his parents had refused to be there and sent a very insulting email condemning Ryan to hell for the sin that he was about to commit. Ryan had just scoffed and put the message immediately in the trash bin. 

Ryan and Gavin were wearing matching suits with different coloured ties and details. Their kiss at the end of the ceremony was brief and chaste and they had not practiced it beforehand. Gavin was sure that the look on his face afterwards would completely give away his feelings for Ryan but at least it would look nice and convincing on the photos. 

Afterward everyone left the courthouse together and headed towards a nearby fancy restaurant where they’d hold the pseudo reception. They’d rented a private section of the restaurant for just their party and the photographer would take photos but also be allowed to eat. It had got them a lower fee than what the photographer usually charged. 

Gavin’s parents loved Ryan which made Gavin feel both relieved and guilty. Honestly the entire marriage thing had made him feel relieved and guilty from the start. It didn’t help that he lived together and slept next to a man that he’d actually fallen in love with knowing that the feelings weren’t reciprocated. 

Now they had a marriage certificate and wedding rings and they’d live this lie for at least a couple of years. Gavin kept wanting to reach out and touch Ryan, even casually which he did now but it was to keep up an act in front of his parents. He wanted to be allowed to touch Ryan in casually intimate ways when it was just the two of them. 

After dinner and before dessert, Ryan placed his arm on the back of Gavin’s chair and brushed his thumb back and forth at the nape of Gavin’s neck. It made goosebumps appear all over Gavin’s body and his lips tickled from their earlier and only kiss. He was hyper aware of Ryan’s every move and touch and he couldn’t help but to glance at him at least twice per minute. 

“Hey, you okay?” Ryan asked quietly, leaning closer to Gavin. “You seem pretty tense.”

“I’m fine,” Gavin mumbled unconvincingly. “It’s just kind of scary, I guess. Having my parents here and all. Like what if they look at us and can tell?”

“Tell what? That we’re adorable together?” Ryan smiled and gave Gavin a sideways hug and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, Gav. Everything is perfect.”

Gavin blushed and couldn’t help but to lean into Ryan’s embrace with a goofy smile on his face. Whenever Ryan said things like that he was immediately swept up in a fantasy that Ryan really did love him back. If only one of them took the first move then the other would be able to confess the feelings he had previously thought unrequited. 

During the rest of the reception Gavin was able to relax and enjoy himself a bit more. After all he didn’t get to see his parents very often anymore and he was surrounded by friends. Since that first awkward dinner with Meg and Jeremy, they’d spent more time together and all of them got along really well. Except sometimes when two of them were busy for some reason, and the remaining four played Mario Party and hated each other for a couple of hours. 

The reception ended around six o’clock in the evening. The photographer promised them before she left that they’d have the digital photos soon, and then they could select which ones they wanted for the prints that were included in the price. 

Before the hard part would be really over, Gavin and Ryan would have to share a taxi with his parents to the hotel. Then, unless they got in separate lifts, they’d have to live with the awkwardness of knowing that Gavin’s parents thought they were going to their honeymoon suite to have sex. It didn’t help that as they were saying goodbye to their four friends, they kept making lewd suggestions that they found hilarious. 

Thankfully Gavin’s parents were British and as such they were masters of avoiding awkward situations. They said that they would like to walk to the hotel to have a chance to see a bit more of the city. As it was a good part of the city where crime wasn’t as prevalent Gavin felt comfortable with agreeing to that plan. 

So they all went their separate ways with Gavin and Ryan riding to the hotel in a taxi alone. They were silent, both processing their thoughts of the day they had just had. In fact, they were mostly silent all the way to their hotel room. 

“How are you feeling?” Ryan finally asked when they were in their room, looking unfairly attractive as he stripped out of his suit jacket and tie.

“Kind of overwhelmed,” Gavin said, sinking down on the edge of the bed. “But not bad, I guess. How are you? No regrets?” 

“No regrets.” Ryan draped his jacket and suit over a chair and sat down next to Gavin. “You know, if you had to leave the country after all of this I would be very upset. I might have to come with you to England in that case.”

Gavin frowned at Ryan. “What? Why?” 

“I don’t know, I guess I never realised how lonely I was living alone before and you’ve quickly become my closest friend alongside Meg and Jeremy. I’d be lonely again without you.”

“You could just find another roommate.”

“Nah, you’re the only one I want to live with like this.”

There Ryan went again, saying things that made Gavin feel all gooey inside. It really wasn’t fair. Gavin had had a couple of glasses of champagne for this special occasion and he blamed it on being tipsy when he leaned in and pressed his lips against Ryan’s. Ryan took a sharp intake of breath and allowed it for a moment before he gently pushed Gavin back. 

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” Gavin said, springing up from the bed and rushed to the other side of the room. “Fuck, I guess the alcohol affected me more than I thought. I’m so sorry, Ryan.”

“It’s okay,” Ryan said, looking genuinely apologetic. “You don’t have to be so panicked. I just don’t think that it’s a good idea to do this now.”

“Of course it isn’t. God, I’m so bloody stupid. I’ll just… I’ll get ready for bed first. I know it’s early but what else are we going to do here, right?” 

Gavin grabbed his toiletries and a pyjamas and rushed into the bathroom, ignoring the attempts that Ryan made to stop him so that they could talk. Everything had been going so well. Gavin hadn’t even ended up clinging to Ryan in his sleep yet, unless Ryan was really good at escaping his grasp in the morning or something, and he didn’t think he’d been too obvious with his feelings. They were good friends and now Gavin had gone and cocked it up.

He cursed at himself as he practically tore his suit off and turned on the hot water to fill the luxurious bathtub. Now Ryan would probably distance himself from Gavin and things would be all weird for a long time before they could just forget about what had happened. 

Ryan knocked on the door and said from the other side of it, “Gav, you really don’t have to freak out about this. I understand, you haven’t had alcohol in a long time and this is our wedding day. Things just got a bit confused for a moment there. I’ll be out here waiting. Please don’t run away from me.”

Gavin choked back tears and nodded even though he knew that Ryan couldn’t see him. “Okay, I’ll just have a bath. Unless you need to use the bathroom first?”

“No, I’ll just go to the lobby if it’s an emergency. Hey, Gav?”

“Yeah?” 

“You’re still my closest friend. Nothing has changed.”

The sound of Ryan’s footsteps led away from the door and then Gavin could hear the muffled sound of people on the TV. He leaned his forehead against the cool tiles on the wall and sighed heavily. Nothing had changed. There was no magical moment where Ryan confessed to having fallen in love with Gavin. This was not a goddamn fairytale but Gavin was a fool. 

\---

Since the short honeymoon - which had been spent watching terrible movies in the hotel room while eating stupid amounts of room service food, and with Gavin refusing to talk about the kiss - Gavin had been going out every night. Typically he wouldn’t bother with smaller crimes that the police could handle on their own. Now the instant he heard of a disturbance he headed there to take down the crooks. 

He’d just prevented three men from breaking into a hardware store and he was frustrated. None of them were giving him a challenge. In fact, upon seeing Golden Boy the three men had started to run away and he had quickly caught them. 

It wasn’t like Gavin wanted there to be a dangerous villain running around in Achievement City and hurting people, but couldn’t they at least pose a little bit of a challenge? He liked when they were stupid enough to stay and attempt to fight him.

Sighing, Gavin left the three men tied up in front of the hardware store and left before the cops showed up. He could hear the sirens heading towards them so it wouldn’t be long. Gavin didn’t even bother flying, trudging down an adjoining street when he heard the rumble of a motorcycle. He looked up to see The Vagabond driving towards him and slowing to a stop. 

“Rough night?” The Vagabond asked, his eyes hidden away in shadow and the tone of his voice giving nothing away but in Gavin’s bad mood it felt like he was mocking him.

“No,” Gavin said. “Everything is just fine.”

“No, really, what’s wrong?” The Vagabond allowed some real concern to enter his voice. “You’re usually flying away from crime scenes, glowing all bright after a job well done.”

Gavin looked down at himself and noticed that his glow was really dim. Thankfully not dim enough for anyone to see through it to his true self. He liked The Vagabond well enough now but not enough to be ready to trust him with his identity. 

“I’ve just been feeling a bit frustrated lately,” Gavin said, kicking at a loose stone on the pavement. “What if my skills get rusty and then a villain with superpowers shows up and kicks my ass? That would be bad.”

“True. I know I don’t have super strength but I’m pretty good at fighting. Want to spar?”

Gavin looked up at The Vagabond, his glow increasing slightly in brightness. “Would you? Where?”

“I’ve got a hideout with a pretty large empty space to work out. We could go there. We’d have to go incognito, though, so you can’t be glowing.”

“You know I can’t show you my face.” Gavin frowned and backed away a few steps, worried that this had all been some sort of ploy. 

“I’ve got a spare helmet,” The Vagabond said.

He got off the bike to open the storage box on the back, pulling out a big helmet and held it out to Gavin. Some of the tension left Gavin’s body and he stepped closer again, taking the helmet. He was wearing a black jacket and black pants, nothing that would stand out or be recognisable so he should be safe in that respect as well. Putting the helmet on and making sure that the visor was down, Gavin stopped glowing. Even though he couldn’t see The Vagabond’s eyes, he could feel his gaze wander across his body and hidden in the helmet his cheeks grew warm. 

The Vagabond got back on his bike. “Get on. Hold onto me tightly.”

Gavin scrambled to get on the motorbike behind The Vagabond. It felt kind of embarrassing to wrap his arms around The Vagabond’s waist. He didn’t really know why as it wasn’t much different to when he’d held onto The Vagabond when he’d flown with him. In fact, wasn’t it better as they weren’t face to face? 

The motorcycle roared back to life and The Vagabond took them in a confusing pattern through the streets, making sure that they would be difficult to follow. They ended up in the outskirts of Achievement City in a dilapidated area filled with abandoned buildings. The Vagabond stopped in front of what looked like a garage or large storage building. 

“This is it,” The Vagabond said. 

Gavin got off the bike on slightly shaky legs. Sure, he flew at high speeds but he wasn’t used to being on a motorcycle and putting his life in the hands of someone who apparently liked to be reckless. 

The Vagabond unlocked both the security grate and the large sliding door. He gestured for Gavin to go inside. Gavin walked in and resumed his glow to cast some light on the area and be able to see better. He took off the helmet and handed it to The Vagabond who had led the bike inside and closed the door behind them. 

“You must save some on electricity bills,” The Vagabond said and upon a questioning sound from Gavin elaborated, “You’re your own lamp.”

Gavin scoffed. “Very funny.”

The Vagabond shrugged and walked further inside, turning on a few lights that were scattered along the walls of the place. It was a large and mostly empty building with a few windows just below the tall ceiling. One wall was halfway covered with what looked like gun safes and there were some targets and training equipment scattered throughout. In one corner there was a desk with a computer and other tech. 

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” Gavin said. “It really fits the vigilante aesthetic.”

“I told the home decorator that I wanted the space to feel like it was being used by a loner with murder as a hobby,” The Vagabond said and Gavin had to laugh a bit at that. “Try not to break any bones, alright?”

“I thought you liked it rough,” Gavin said before his filter could stop the words from coming out of his mouth. 

“Yes, well, I want to be able to walk tomorrow.” A grin could be heard in The Vagabond’s voice. 

“Well, alright.” 

Gavin was too shy to be able to continue with the innuendo filled conversation. He was also a bit worried about what it was making him feel. Like he actually wanted to climb The Vagabond like a tree. He didn’t even know who The Vagabond actually was or what he looked like but his voice and his body were amazing, and somehow he felt like The Vagabond genuinely appreciated him. Why else would The Vagabond offer to spar and then bring him to what was essentially his vigilante lair? 

The Vagabond walked to stand in the middle of the empty floor and cocked his head at Gavin. “Are you ready?” 

“What are the rules?” Gavin asked.

“Don’t go for actual harm. No other rules.”

“Okay,” Gavin said. 

He then sprung up in the air and flew straight towards The Vagabond to tackle him. The Vagabond stepped out of the way and aimed a blow towards Gavin’s side that barely missed despite the speed Gavin was going. Gavin was quick and agile but The Vagabond had surprising speed despite his size and build, plus the fact that he was wearing all leather. 

Both of them got really into the sparring. Gavin decided to stick to the ground after that first attack to make things more even. That being said, he didn’t hesitate to use his glow to flare real bright and momentarily blind The Vagabond when the vigilante sometimes got too close to actually doing a bit of damage. Sure, Gavin could deflect bullets and his skin didn’t break but when something hit him, whether it be bullets or fists it would still hurt. However, he wasn’t about to tell that to just anyone.

They kept trading and deflecting blows until both of them were panting and sweating profusely. Gavin finally held up his hands because he sensed that The Vagabond wouldn’t be the first one to stop, even though this was friendly sparring. 

“Okay, okay, that’s enough for now,” Gavin said in between heavy breaths. “You’re really good.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” The Vagabond said in a huskier voice than normal which made Gavin a bit weak in the knees. 

Gavin’s eyes widened when The Vagabond lifted his mask. Just a little bit, enough that his mouth was visible while he reached under to wipe sweat off of his face. He had stubble and his lips looked soft, different to what Gavin had imagined. Not that Gavin had been fantasising about The Vagabond’s lips or anything. Except that yes, he had. Somehow in that glimpse there was something about The Vagabond’s jaw and lips that looked familiar but Gavin couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Before he had a chance to take a closer look, The Vagabond slid the mask back down. 

“Should I give you a ride back or will you find your way from here?”

“I’ll be all right,” Gavin said, somewhat distracted still by his thoughts of why The Vagabond would look even vaguely familiar. “With a birds eye view it’s pretty easy to navigate the city.”

“Okay. Don’t get into any trouble.”

“I should be saying that to you, I haven’t forgotten what happened last time.”

“Yes, well, my hero was there to save me.” 

Gavin stared at The Vagabond in stunned silence for a long moment. The Vagabond looked back steadily, not speaking. It somehow got difficult for Gavin to breathe again and his heart pounded loudly in his chest. It was like there was a rubberband connecting them, trying to pull them together. 

Finally Gavin couldn’t take it any longer and he moved quickly with purpose towards The Vagabond. It seemed like The Vagabond was on the same page because just before Gavin reached him, he pushed up his mask again so that his lips were visible. They collided and their mouths found each other with a clash of teeth that was painful but neither of them cared.

Without ending their hungry and practically ferocious kiss, The Vagabond backed Gavin all the way to a wall and pinned him against it. The Vagabond wedged one of his legs between Gavin’s and pressed against him. Gavin bucked his hips, seeking more friction and both of them groaned into each other’s mouths. It was fast, rough and with all clothes on but both of them found release. 

After they kept standing there, The Vagabond leaning heavily against Gavin. Their breaths mingled as their lips were only a hair’s breadth apart. Gavin clutched at The Vagabond’s leather jacket with a tight grip, just holding on. He couldn’t believe what they had just done. What he had just done. 

It hadn’t been long since he got married and promised fidelity to another man and here he was, making out and dry humping with a vigilante who had killed many people in the past. Everything inside of him was at war and he felt kind of sick but at the same time he didn’t want to let go of The Vagabond. 

“Oh,” The Vagabond mumbled, just seconds after their mutual completion.

“What?” 

Gavin’s heart sank. He was worried that The Vagabond would see the injustice that he’d just committed and know that he was married. 

“Nothing. It’s just… that was intense.”

“Yeah, it was,” Gavin said, half relieved and half disappointed that The Vagabond wasn’t judging him for what he’d just done.

The guilt might have been easier to live with if he had someone else punishing him for it. It was a fucked up way to think but the entire situation was messy and confusing. 

“So, why did you stay?” Gavin asked, trying to find something to talk about, unable to bear silence. 

They were still pressed together though The Vagabond had leaned back a little bit to be able to look at Gavin’s face. Though all he would see was the golden glow emitted by the Golden Boy. 

“What?” The Vagabond asked. 

“You got your name from never staying in one place for more than a year. But you’ve been here in Achievement City for longer than that. Why?” 

“Oh. I stayed because of you.”

“Because of me?” Gavin asked and his grip on The Vagabond’s jacket slackened. “What do you mean?”

“In other places the heroes would always try to hunt me down eventually. To bring me to justice and get me thrown in jail. You never did that and then we started seeing each other more and you argued with me about my methods but you still didn’t try to send me to prison. And I began to like you a lot.”

Gavin blushed and he leaned his forehead against The Vagabond’s chest. “Oh. Well, I like you too. Though I guess that’s been made pretty obvious.”

The Vagabond chuckled and kissed the top of Gavin’s head. “Yeah. Not to ruin this beautiful moment but I’m all sweaty and gross so I should clean up and I’ve got to get back home before sunrise…”

“That’s true, I do too. To both of those things. I’ll see you soon, though?”

“You can count on it,” The Vagabond said and tilted Gavin’s head up for another kiss before he stepped back. “See you soon, Boy.”

“Shut up, Bond,” Gavin said before he headed out into the night where the sky was slowly getting a lighter colour. 

Once he was flying away from The Vagabond’s hideout, the guilt washed over him in full force. He had promised to stay faithful to Ryan even though theirs wasn’t a traditional marriage and now he had broken that promise after less than two weeks. Perhaps he should confess to Jeremy and let him break him in half. That would be less painful than telling Ryan and seeing the gentle disappointment on his face. 

Ryan would probably be really lovely about it and say that it was okay, that it wasn’t like they were in a true committed relationship and that’d only make Gavin feel worse. He had wanted a real relationship with Ryan but his advances had been rejected. At the same time he’d felt an attraction to The Vagabond since before he’d met Ryan and now he knew that The Vagabond wanted him as well. It had made him feel good at the time and honestly he wanted more. 

Gavin wanted to tell The Vagabond about his civilian identity. He wanted to get into a bed with him and be completely exposed. He also obviously wanted The Vagabond to trust him with his own identity and they could be together. That was bad, however, because he was married and that wouldn’t change. Part of him still wanted Ryan as well. 

Feeling filthy both inside and out, Gavin decided to go into Michael and Lindsay’s house to take a shower before he went to the guest house. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d elected to use their bathroom instead of his own in order not to wake Ryan up. This time it was even more important as he wanted to evidence of what he’d done to ever cross the threshold of the place he shared with Ryan. 

After he’d scrubbed himself thoroughly in water so hot that it made his skin burn red, Gavin put on the clothes he kept at the main house for situations when he’d have to use their shower. He then walked out back to the guest house, head hanging low in shame. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he tiptoed to the bedroom and was surprised to see it empty. Ryan wasn’t home from work yet. 

It was odd that Ryan would have to work so late but now Gavin was only grateful. He stripped out of his clothes and put on the pyjama pants he’d bought so he wouldn’t feel so exposed sleeping next to the man who’d rejected him. Once in bed he fell asleep almost immediately. 

Gavin was woken up what felt like mere minutes later when he felt the bed dip. He groggily opened his eyes and saw Ryan slipping into bed, giving him a sheepish smile. 

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Ryan asked quietly. 

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Gavin mumbled and rubbed his cheek against his pillow. “Night, Ryan.”

“Goodnight, Boy.”

It took a moment for it to click in Gavin’s tired brain but when it did, he flailed his arms and almost hit Ryan right in the face. He sat up and stared at Ryan with wide eyes, now very awake. 

“What did you just say?” 

Ryan sat up as well and looked at Gavin in wonder. “It is you.”

“Obviously I’m me but are you…?” Gavin hesitantly reached out to touch Ryan’s face, running his thumb across Ryan’s familiar lips. “Bond?” 

“Yeah, yes, it’s me,” Ryan said and placed his hand on top of Gavin’s, looking at him with a vulnerable expression. 

“How… how did you know?” 

“Earlier, when we… I felt no injustice after and I would’ve if it had been someone else, I think.”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?” Gavin asked, his voice rising in volume and he withdrew his hand. “I felt sick with guilt the entire way home and during.”

“I couldn’t be sure,” Ryan said. “I didn’t want to just blurt your name to someone who could possibly turn out to be somebody else. I felt awful too, you know. I’ve been falling for you this entire time thinking that I shouldn’t and I couldn’t, not when I’ve got such a big secret that would always be a wall between us. But with Golden Boy it could be different because we’ve both got secrets and now… you’re the same person.”

Ryan burst out in hysterical giggles but Gavin was too conflicted and angry to laugh. On the one hand, he’d been cheating on Ryan in his mind but on the other hand Ryan had been cheating on him too. Now he was supposed to believe that Ryan had feelings for him too but rejected him because of the secret identity? Gavin had tried to go for it despite all of that. Who was actually in the wrong here? Maybe it was both of them or neither. It was giving Gavin a headache thinking about it. 

“Why did you respond to my post?” Gavin asked. “Why did you agree to marry me?” 

“I felt that it would be a great injustice if you had to leave the country,” Ryan replied. “I had no idea why and even after I met you I couldn’t figure it out, but it mattered less because I liked you pretty much instantly.”

“Don’t say shit like that when I want to be mad at you.”

“Sorry.”

They sat in silence just looking at each other for a long moment. In a way it resembled the way they’d looked at each other only just over an hour ago, then as Golden Boy and The Vagabond. This time there was no kiss, however, and they just kept looking. 

It was difficult for Gavin to match the usually gentle and calm Ryan with the ruthless vigilante The Vagabond. At the same time it made a scary amount of sense. The strength that Ryan had and the surprisingly fun side of the tortured Vagabond. Combined there was just so much more for Gavin to love and he feared that he had lost his heart forever, that it would now always belong to the man sitting next to him. It was far more terrifying than fighting dozens of bad guys at the same time. 

“So Meg and Jeremy… are they vigilantes too?” Gavin asked when the silence became too much for him. 

“Nah, they used to be mercs like me, though,” Ryan said, scratching the back of his head. “We worked together a few times and became friends outside of that. When I got cursed they were the only ones I told and they quit taking mercenary work. They’ve helped me out a couple of times and they’ve still got connections to get good weapons and other equipment.”

“Huh. Explains why they’re both well scary.”

Ryan gave Gavin a lopsided smile. “Yeah, they’re good people, though, sometimes people do bad things just to survive in this messed up world.”

“I know. I’m not going to start hating them or anything and I won’t tell Michael and Lindsay. It’s their choice if they want to tell anyone. Just like it’s your choice if you want to tell.”

“Michael and Lindsay know about you I assume.”

“Yeah, I trust them with my life,” Gavin said and paused, frowning a bit. “I trust you with my life. And I guess I can’t be angry at you for doing the same things I’ve done.”

“You could be mad at me for all of the blood on my hands,” Ryan said, looking down at said hands. “You’re way too good for me.”

“That’s my choice to make and I’ve already chosen you, both as Ryan and as The Vagabond.”

Ryan looked at Gavin again with the expression of a tortured man who has just come to know comfort and happiness again after a long time going without. Gavin was both humbled and a bit scared at having so much weight put on his words and feelings. 

“Well, I chose you as Gavin and as Golden Boy. I’ve got to say that I prefer the name Gavin over Golden Boy.”

Gavin snorted and shifted closer to Ryan. “Yeah, I do too.”

Ryan wrapped his arms around Gavin and lowered them down to lay side by side. He gently caressed Gavin’s face and Gavin leaned into his embrace. It was very different from their previous intimacy as Golden Boy and The Vagabond. This was without several layers of clothes separating them, completely without masks. This felt to Gavin like it was the first time he’d ever been truly intimate with someone. It wasn’t about sex, it was about being open and vulnerable and trusting someone with his heart. 

“We should sleep,” Gavin said quietly. “It’s almost dawn.”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed but then he moved even closer and kissed Gavin.

Gavin, who had been afraid of being the one to initiate once again, let out a happy sigh and eagerly kissed back. Sleep could wait while they explored each other’s bodies fully. 

There were scars littered across Ryan’s body, which explained why he always wore full pyjamas to bed even though it was really too warm for that. Gavin made it his mission to kiss every single one of the scars. Except for the fresher ones, he left those alone to not irritate the sensitive skin. 

They took their time and were in no rush to get to anything overtly sexual. Instead they simply enjoyed the feeling of skin against skin, no big secrets left between them. Gavin thought that this wasn’t a happy ending, it was a happy beginning. 

\---

In the end it was easy to convince the people interviewing them about their marriage that it was legitimately for love. Granted, it hadn’t started that way but they’d got there after some twists and turns and that was really what mattered. 

It had also helped in a weird way that both of them went out and risked their lives on an almost daily basis. They didn’t start outwardly working together as Ryan didn’t want to tarnish the reputation of Golden Boy by being seen too much with The Vagabond. There were still times when The Vagabond would kill criminals but he tried to avoid it as much as possible, putting more trust in the law to come through. Well, he put trust in the fact that Gavin would be able to convince law enforcers of the guilt of bad people and the importance of keeping them locked up. 

So they did work together but behind the scenes in a way where the general public wouldn’t find out. After all, no one else needed to know about their personal lives or what they really did outside of those moments where they’d appear to uphold their own brands of justice. 

Gavin definitely would not tell anyone about the fact that he sometimes went to The Vagabond’s secret lair to have rough sex with the vigilante against the wall or over a desk. Ryan kept telling him to stop calling it a lair because it was nothing of the sort but he would never listen because as he’d say:

“But Ryan, you having a lair is really sexy, Ryan.”

Their life together wasn’t always easy and they’d fight or Gavin would have another crisis of conscience about what, or who, he was doing from time to time. However, the heart wants what the heart wants and they’d always make up and Gavin would calm his conscience. All in all, Ryan had saved far more people than he had killed. It wasn’t that much difference from a soldier in a war and the law didn’t condemn them as murderers. 

Now it was their one year anniversary of being married and they were having a small party. It honestly wasn’t much different from their usual hangouts with Michael, Lindsay, Meg and Jeremy. 

“I still think it’d be hilarious if you did a new wedding photoshoot as Golden Boy and The Vagabond,” Lindsay said. “The contrast is perfect.”

“We’re not going to do that, Lindsay,” Gavin said, rolling his eyes. “Imagine if someone got their hands on those photos. The police would never listen to me again.”

“But it’d be so cute!”

“Cute? The Vagabond isn’t cute,” Ryan said, raising an eyebrow at Lindsay. 

“Uh, he totally is,” Lindsay said. 

“You’re nuts,” Jeremy said. “He’s literally all black leather and a freaking skull mask. If that’s what you find cute I’m seriously concerned about you.”

“Lindsay is a freak,” Michael said. “I’ve given up being concerned about it at this point, it’s just how she is.” 

“So, does she make you wear leather and stuff in the bedroom?” Meg asked with a smirk. 

“Please, I don’t want to hear about this,” Gavin whined. “It’s my anniversary so you have to be nice to me and spare me of thoughts of my best friends in the bedroom.”

“Pfft, you know you’re into it,” Michael said, sticking his tongue out and made weird sounds. 

“Am not,” Gavin said, sticking his fingers into his ears. “I’m leaving!” 

Ryan laughed and wrapped his arms around Gavin, pulling him onto his lap. “Dear, we’ve been here for only thirty minutes. We haven’t even started playing Mario Kart yet.”

“I don’t care, they’re being gross.”

“You’re the ones being gross now,” Jeremy said, making a face. “Stop with the PDA and let’s kick each other’s asses in the game.”

All six of them kept bickering as they grabbed their controllers and prepared to play. Gavin stayed cuddled up in Ryan’s lap and leaned his head back on Ryan’s shoulder to smile at him. Ryan smiled back and gave him a quick peck on the lips. 

“I’m going to destroy you,” Ryan said. 

“Nah, you know I always kick your ass at Mario Kart,” Gavin said with a cheeky grin. 

Ryan sighed. “Yeah, it’s unfair. I don’t know why I love you.”

“Because you own his ass in bed,” Meg said and several loud groans filled the room.

Gavin grabbed a handful of popcorn from a bowl on the coffee table and threw them at her. That prompted Michael to start yelling at him for being a filthy animal while Lindsay and Jeremy laughed loudly. Meg tried to retaliate but Michael blocked her and started screaming at her as well. 

“I love you too, by the way,” Gavin told Ryan with an unrepentant smile. 

Ryan gave Gavin a soft smile and with the background sounds of yelling and loud laughing their lips met again in a lingering kiss. Their lives were far from normal but neither of them would have it any different as long as they had each other.


End file.
